The
Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Technische
Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH is a service
enterÂ¬prise for development cooperation with
worldwide operations. Owned by the
Federal Republic of Germany, the
organization operates as a private-sector
enterprise with a development-policy
mandate: to make sustainable improvements to
the living conditions of people in partner
countries and to conserve the natural
resource base on which life depends.

Established in 1974 by the Government of the
Federal Republic of Germany, GTZ, although
government-owned, was given the legal status
of a private limited liability company
(GmbH) under German law. This status has two
significant advantages: as a private company
GTZ is able to offer its clients
competitive, needs- and target-oriented
services, whilst government ownership
vouches for its integrity and reputability.

GTZâ€™s
advisory services place emphasis on the
building of institutional capacities in
order to strengthen public institutions.
This includes strengthening of core state
functions, allocating market forces and
promoting implementation capacity within and
between governmental, private and para-state
organizations. In 2004 GTZ supported about2,726
projects in 134 partner countries.

The
organization has more than 11,000 employees
in 134 countries in Asia, Latin America,
Africa, the eastern European countries in
transition and the CIS. Around 7,700 are
locally contracted nationals, of whom more
than 40% are management personnel. GTZ
maintains its own Offices in 67 countries.
Around 1,100 people are employed at the Head
Office in Eschborn near Frankfurt am Main.

PEM GmbH
is a private and independent consulting firm
providing advisory services and technical
assistance to public institutions, private
sector organizations and individual
enterprises in developing countries and
economies in transition.

Since
almost 25 years PEM GmbH has been operating
in all major fields related to economic
development and gained in-depth experience
in a range of geographic, economic and
political settings.

PEMâ€™s
founders acquired their basic professional
training and experiÂ¬ence in business
consulting in Germanyâ€™s dynamic and
innovative SMMEs sector in the 70s. They set
out to seize the challenging opportunities
of international economic co-operation with
developing countries.

From its
very beginning, PEM recognised the vital
role of private entrepreneurial activities
for the sustainable development of
economies. Consequently the company focused
on strengthening its competence in
specialised and comprehensive consulting
services, technical assistance as well as
vocational education and training in the
sector of private micro, small and medium
enterprises (SMME) in developing countries
and countries in transition.

PEM mainly
operates in the Mediterranean, Eastern
Europe, Southeast Asia and the Newly
Independent States (NIS) -- its major
clients being national and international
financing institutions and donor agencies,
public institutions and private customers.
PEM promotes the fair exchange of
information, skills, goods and services
between business communities of developing
and industrialised economies by delivering
best practice advice and services to
institutions and people engaged in the
support and management of private sector
development and Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises worldwide.